GUEST BIO

Victoria Hearst on Faith and Helping Others

By
The 700 Club

CBN.com- A NEW SEASON
As a young girl, Victoria, who was raised Catholic, always wanted to be in the entertainment business. She trained in acting, singing and dancing and performed in her high school theatrical productions. At 18, she moved to Los Angeles, California where she took acting classes and danced with a group in the San Francisco bay area. In 1979, Victoria went to Japan with her mother. She fell in love with the country and even learned to speak the language. Because of her notoriety as one of the granddaughters of William Randolph Hearst, Victoria was often interviewed by Japanese newspapers and magazines. At the time, there was a popular TV show about samarais and Victora was cast in Japan to play the daughter of an American ambassador in a few episodes.

In 1994, while Victoria was living in California, she met a man. They fell in love and he moved into her condo in Los Angeles. Then they lived in her apartment in New York. “He basically said we were engaged although he conveniently never was able to buy me an engagement ring,” says Victoria. In December 1995, her boyfriend, also an actor, went to Los Angeles to work on a project. Victoria was miserable, depressed and couldn’t get out of bed. She called a friend and told her that she had hit rock bottom. That friend, who was watching her house in Colorado, told Victoria that a Bible would be waiting for her at the house. Victoria flew across country and cried all the way from New York to Colorado. She picked up the Bible when she walked in the door and began reading in Matthew. “For that whole five days, I read and cried and read and cried,” says Victoria. “I always knew that the Lord was in my life,” she says. “When I started to stray, I always knew His hand was there to bring me back. But I wasn’t living for him.”

The days reading her Bible prepared Victoria for the next step. A Christian television show led her the rest of the way. She knelt down on the floor in her bedroom and said the sinner’s prayer. From that day on, Victoria decided to live her life for the Lord. Over the years, she has done that. She purchased and restored a building in Ridgeway, Colorado and founded Praise Him Ministries, which includes a Christian bookstore.

LOVE FOR JAPAN
On March 11, 2011, a 9.0 earthquake caused a giant tsunami to slam into Japan. The world watched in horror. A few months later, Victoria saw more about the aftermath on the news. “All of a sudden, it just hit me. I used to go to Japan all the time. I lost all of my friends and their numbers. I burst into tears because of what the devil had stolen from me,” says Victoria. She knew Operation Blessing would be in Japan with relief efforts. So she got in touch with OB because she wanted to help financially. Simultaneously, Victoria decided to schedule a trip to Japan. She met OB President Bill Horan there. “I was amazed at how much had been cleaned up, but there were areas that were completely devastated by the tsunami,” she says. OB was involved in a relief efforts there and gave 10 boats to fishermen who had lost everything. Today Victoria sits on the board of directors for Operation Blessing Japan. Less than 10% of the Japanese people are Christians. “This is the time to evangelize Japan,” says Victoria.